Daily
news - 30th October 2018

The 2018 budget has disappointed health groups by freezing beer and spirit duties, though wine duty is set to rise in line with inflation. Most cider duties are frozen though a new duty band for cider at 6.9% to 7.5% will come into effect in February 2019 seeking to target infamous 'white ciders' | Alcohol Policy UK, UK

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) NHS Trusts and (b) Care Commissioning Groups on consulting local communities on the location of drug and alcohol recovery and treatment centres | They work for you, UK

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether e-cigarettes which gain authorisation as licensed medicines from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will be taxed at the reduced rate of VAT when sold over the counter | They work for you, UK

Exposure to audio-visual alcohol content in media is associated with subsequent alcohol use in young people, but the extent of exposure contained in UK free-to-air prime-time television has not been explored since 2010. We report an analysis of alcohol content in a sample of UK free-to-air prime-time television broadcasts in 2015 and compare this with a similar analysis from 2010 | JPH, UK

This year, GDS2019 is translated into 20 languages and with partners in over 35 countries we hope this will be our biggest yet. Committed to helping people use drugs more safely regardless of the legal status of the drug and promoting honest conversation about drug use, GDS relies on the experience and expertise from people all over the world. Share your story with us and help us create change that help people have happier lives and policy that supports health well being, not punishment and stigmatization | GDS, UK

Students from lower-income neighborhoods who attended one of five high-performing Los Angeles County high schools were less likely to abuse marijuana than those who weren't offered admission, UCLA researchers found | EurekAlert, USA

Today, the results of the largest-ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated clinical trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Psychopharmacology | MAPS, USA

On October 28, repressive drug policy secured a powerful platform in Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest democracy, with the election of far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro. He raked in 55 percent of the vote | Filter Magazine, USA

The federal government is considering making Canada the first country to require individual cigarettes to carry health warning labels as part of an effort to find new ways to reduce smoking levels | Globe and Mail, Canada

New research from La Trobe University has revealed that 30 per cent of Australians recently reduced the quantity of their alcohol consumption and a further 29 per cent reduced the frequency of their drinking, while six per cent kicked the habit for good | Medical Xpress, Australia

Prescription drugs are now involved in a significant number of fatal overdoses and there are fears that, under new rules to restrict them, addicts will turn to harder drugs for relief | abc.net.au, Australia

Two people I have a huge amount of respect for – Suzi Gage and Harry Sumnall – have just published a paper encouraging us all to have a bit more restraint when discussing the implications of the Rat Park experiment. Just like the original author, Bruce Alexander, did, in actual fact | Thinking to some purpose blog, UK

It is and it always has been government which has prevented access to cannabis, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. This means that there has been no education at all and doctors are as poorly informed as everyone else. They don’t understand cannabis, many will not even have heard of the endocannabinoid system | Clear, UK

The Home Office released statistics yesterday on the use of stop and search for the year ending 31 March 2018. While stop and search fell to a historic low of 280,000 in 2017/18 the recent trend in declining use is slowing and in some areas has reversed. | CJA blog, UK

Following the tragic drug-related deaths of two young people at the Defqon.1 festival in September, NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian tasked an expert panel with investigating how to improve safety at events like music festivals | Sydney Drug Lawyers blog, Australia

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